President Joe Biden is losing more ground to a resurgent former President Donald Trump as the U.S. economy remains in an inflationary cycle, according to a new survey.
Pollster John McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner’s “Secrets” column on Friday that Trump’s 48%-44% lead is a bad sign for Biden, who would only receive 26% of the Democratic primary vote.
“President Biden is in big trouble. He’s losing to Trump 48%-44% and is very vulnerable to a primary,” claimed the Republican pollster.
According to his survey, 65 percent of voters believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction, while only 30% disagree. Additionally, 79 percent of respondents reported that their household finances have been impacted by the ongoing economic downturn.
President Biden’s favorable rating has remained constant at 44 percent for several months, and a majority of 52 percent hold an unfavorable view of him, as per the survey released on Friday.
The poll also found that Biden’s support for a 2024 primary vote was only at 26 percent, a number that has remained steady for more than a year. However, no strong challengers were identified in the survey, with the exception of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has confirmed that she will not run.
The survey also revealed that 57 percent of Republicans wanted to see former Trump run for office again, which is his lowest level of support in 21 months. However, 76 percent of Republicans support him now that he is running.
Trump remains a dominant force in the GOP, said McLaughlin. In a primary race, Trump is leading with 42 percent support, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 26 percent. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the only other declared GOP presidential contender, is at 6 percent, while former Vice President Mike Pence has 5 percent support.
When pitted against DeSantis, Trump leads by a significant margin of 56 percent to 38 percent.
McLaughlin has warned against underestimating Trump, who has faced much media criticism and skepticism about his chances of winning in 2024. McLaughlin highlighted that in 2016, the political establishment also wrote off Trump’s chances of victory. However, Trump ultimately emerged victorious, and now many of his critics are working hard to prevent him from repeating his success.
“In 2016, the political establishment told us right through the end that Trump couldn’t win. Now, they are going all out because they are afraid he will win,” he said.
“Donald Trump still represents the working families of the heartland of America who the establishment elites keep exploiting. Over the past two years, for the first two years, America has gone backwards. Inflation is too high, the economy is weak, the border is wide open, crime is increasing, and young men and women are dying from fentanyl. America’s working middle class is angry,” McLaughlin said.
